The city has its own written and spoken word and its own "word" in the language of colours and symbols - the coat of arms. The first can change, more or less, over the course of history, the second - constant and only rarely, especially in unfavourable conditions, distorted or even disappeared. The story of Windau/ Виндава/ Ventspils "visual word" or the city's coat of arms confirms this as well. 

Ventspils is one of the few medieval cities in the territory of Latvia, which already in the 14th century begins to form its own heraldic symbolism. One of the 11 settlements that had acquired city rights here during the Livonian period (13^th-16^th centuries) cannot be left without a sign of civic self-awareness - it would be unacceptable to public opinion at that time! The oldest, which will surely become the coat of arms of the city only a little later, has survived in a round wax seal attached to the documents in 1369. In the centre of it, in a checkered area, there is a cross with widened ends (i.e. a cross of fins or paws), below it - a curved hunting horn. The text of the seal says: "seal for the burghers living in the city of Venta" (S[igillium] burgencium in Winda manencium). Although this depiction cannot yet be considered a coat of arms in the full sense of the word (the depicted elements are not placed in a shield), it is undoubtedly the beginning of the heraldic symbol of Ventspils, as both the cross and the horn are preserved as the main figures even when they are placed in the shield of the coat of arms. Their representation in details or stylization is not important - each artist or depictor of the coat of arms in the course of history varies them a little at their own discretion. It is only different in the 20th century when the society is accustomed to accurate serial representations and wants to see it in the representation of the coat of arms.

The meaning of all the symbols on the coat of arms is not easy to explain. It is simpler with a cross - it symbolizes the settlement as a city of the Livonian Order. Similar to, for example, the paw crosses depicted in the coat of arms of Valmiera or Riga. There are various explanations for the figure of a hunting horn. One version indicates that the hunting horn is a widespread symbol in the heraldry of Western European cities and families and, under the influence of their traditions, has also entered the symbolism of Ventspils. The German-Baltic historian C. Mettig believed that in the case of Ventspils the hunting horn could also be associated with a very practical thing - hunting, because one of the closest assistants to the Ventspils commander was a special hawk manager who caught, supervised and trained hawks for hunting.

The only variable seems to be the colours and metals of the coat of arms. In the protocol book of Ventspils Council of 1728, it is written that "in the upper part of the shield there is a golden cross of paws on a white area .. a net in a dark blue area, a black horn on it with a gold mouthpiece and edging..." At the beginning of the 19^th century it is indicated that the whole area of the shield is black, but the horn and the cross - silver. Only in 1846, the combination of colours and metals that is still used today were determined. It is true that all these descriptions refer to a "fisherman's net", which is usually depicted at the bottom of the shield, as well as a hunting horn is hanging on the cross in ties. The coat of arms of Ventspils is depicted in this way until 1925, when the coat of arms drawn by R. Zariņš or one of his students (the question of authorship is not entirely clear) acquires the outlines that the city still uses today: "In a purple area with a silver mesh, a silver hunting horn with a gold mouthpiece, a hoop and edging, a golden cross of paws above it". However, in the first years of the Republic of Latvia's existence, dominated by nationally patriotic winds, denying the old "German" heritage, the city council called on the Heraldic Committee to change certain figures of the coat of arms "choosing either the Latvian - Lāčplēsis fire cross or a lighthouse with rays in place of the current German iron cross". It should be noted that Riga and Valmiera municipalities also had a similar desire to renounce the cross of paws at that time. However, by approving the descriptions and images of the ancient, historical coats of arms, the Heraldic Committee decided in favour of preserving the historical elements.

During the Soviet occupation, the symbol of Ventspils, like the coats of arms of other Latvian cities, undergoes a long period of "prohibition" or "oblivion". Only at the end of the 60s in the 20^th century, creating the heraldic symbols of the city councils, the focus is also on the creation of the coat of arms of Ventspils. The collection of Ventspils Museum contains about 40 different sketches, in which the new symbolism is solved in the most unimaginable way - both by depicting seagulls, anchors and ships, as well as the monument to J. Fabricius and large five-pointed stars. After long peripetias, a symbol was approved in 1970, which combines both ancient and Soviet elements: a hunting horn is depicted in the upper part of the shield area, and the ship's steering wheel is depicted in the lower part. The cross, as a symbol of a foreign ideology, is, of course, gone. In the middle of everything - the colours of the Latvian SSR flag.